Trap-door-opening device.



No. 801,446. PATENTED OCT. 10, 1905. 0. M, EDWARDS. TRAP DOOR OPENINGDEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 11. 1902.

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UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

TRAP-DOOR-OPENING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1905.

Application filed February 11, 1902. Serial No. 93,629.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OLIVER M. EDWARDS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Trap-Door-OpeningDevices, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part ofthe same.

This invention relates to a device or devices to be combined with theoperating means of door-opening devicessuch, for instance, as are setforth in a pending application, Serial No. 77,302, filed October 2,1901for preventing the unintentional operation of such means bypassengers and others who may be near to such operating means; and ithas for its main object the construction of a device or devices and thecombination of the same with the operating means of a door-openingdevice of the general character set forth in said application to preventthe unintentional operation of such operating means.

My invention consists in combining with the platform of acar and theoperating means of a door-opening device of the general character setforth in the above pending application, Serial No. 77,302, of a deviceor devices in such manner that passengers and others while standing onthe platform of the car cannot unintentionally actuate the operatingmeans of the door-opening device; and it also consists in certain othernovel and useful combinations of parts, all of which will be hereinaftermore fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims whichform -a part of this specification.

Like letters of reference, wherever they occur, indicate correspondingparts in all of the figures.

Figure 1 shows in side elevation one form of the door-opening device setforth in said pending application with one form of pro: tecting deviceor attachment combined with the operating means of such opening device,the whole being mounted on a car, with all of the parts seen in theirnormal position or positions ready to be actuated. One of the timbers ofthe platform of the car and a part of the vestibule are seen in section,the platform itself, the trap-door and steps of the car being brokenaway, as shown, in order that the remaining parts may be shown on alarger scale than would be the case if all of these parts were shown.Fig. 2 shows in side elevation the enlarged portion of the plunger orfoothold of the operating means seen in Fig. 1, with a modified form ofthe protecting device or attachment combined therewith, the movableportion of which covers agreater space than is opposite the enlargedportion or foothold of the operating means in the direction such meansoperatively move. Fig. 3 shows in side elevation and vertical sectionanother modification of my protecting device or attachment, so far asconcerns the movable portion of it adjacent to the operating means. Fig.4 shows in side elevation still another modification of my protectingdevice, wherein the form of mounting of the movable part of theattachment relatively to the operating means is somewhat different fromthat seen in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 shows in side elevation a still furthermodification of my device or attachment, wherein there may be a somewhatdifferent action of the parts than seen in Fig. 1. Figs. 6 and 7 show inside elevation and plan, respectively, still another modification of myprotecting device or attachment wherein the device is fixed relativelyto the foothold of the door opening device. Fig. 8 shows in sideelevation still another modification of my protecting device orattachment. Figs. 9 and 10 show in side elevation and plan,respectively, another modification of the same device. Figs. 11 and 12show in side elevation and plan, respectively, still anothermodification.

The door-opening device A, as here shown, consists generally of a levera, pivotally mounted between its ends to a casing let into the platformof the car. The end a of this lever a is arranged underneath the frontedge of the trap-door B, and the lever has some little movement on itsaxis before the end (0 contacts with the under edge of the door, andduring this movement the elbow-lever b, pivotally mounted on the door B,is moved on its pivot by the end a of lever engaging therewith, and asthe other end of lever b engages with the sliding catch-bolt 6 such.

bolt is moved out of its locking position in engagement with theplatform of the car, and by the time end a of lever to engages with theunder edge of the door B such door is free to move by the continuedmovement of the lever (0 until it is partially opened for the hand. ofthe operator to take .hold of a portion thereof to continue the openingoperation, so as to expose the steps of the car for the use ofpassengers in entering or leaving IIO the car. The end a of lever aconnects with the sliding bar or plunger (0", so that as such plungermoves downward that end of the lever is moved downwardly and the door ispartially opened, as just stated. A spring 66 engages with the lever aand the platform of the car or other stationary portion, so that itsstress tends to move or return the parts back into the positions shownafter the force ceases which pressed the bar or plunger a downward andoperatedlevera. The sliding bar or plunger (0 is provided with a head orenlargement a for the foot of the operator to rest on while forcing suchbar downward to operate lever a whenever such head or foothold (4 isexposed for this purpose, all as is more fully set forth in said pendingapplication.

The trap-door B is provided with suitable hinges, by which it may becontrolled as it moves from the closed to the open position, and viceversa, and, as here shown, such hinges may take on the form wherein onehinge-pin or journal is hollow and through which a spring or springs maypass and engage with a stationary portion of the car, and such door mayhave a spring or springs, as just indicated, or not, as isdesired---that is, the hinges may be of any form desired-and likewisesprings of the above form and arrangement maybe used or not, or, ifdesired, the spring or springs may be omitted, as these things form nonecessary part of my invention. Also any form of door-opening device maybe used, so long as it has operating means of some kind adapted to becombined with devices of the character herein indicated, and serve thepurpose of the combinations shown and described in substantially thesame manner such purpose is served by said combinations.

As shown in Fig. 1, suitable brackets are mounted on the end of thevestibule at one end of the car, in which the movable bar or rod-O ismovably mounted, so as to move up and down in a vertical direction. Thismovable bar 0 is provided at its upper end with a knob c, which restsupon the upper face of the upper bracket secured to the car when theparts are in their normal positions, as shown, and at its lower end witha disk 0 or enlarged portion, which for convenience I will term a footportion,which is to be of such a size as to adapt it to cover over sucha portion of the head or foothold a of sliding bar or plunger 66 0f thedoor-opening device A (which foothold and bar, as shown,forrn theoperating means of such opening device) as to prevent a persons footengaging with such head or foothold sufficiently to press the bar andhead clownwardl y when such foothold is pressed upon, as it naturallywould be by one not intending to operate such opening device, but simplytrying to get a rest for his foot, while standing on the platform, andwithin convenient reach of the head or foothold of such bar. This footportion 0 is to be placed sufiiciently close to the upper surface of thefoothold a as to render it difiicult or inconvenient for one to reachthe upper surface of the foothold (6 by his foot without moving the footportion 0' away from such surface to admit of access thereto. Of courseif the foot portion 0 rested upon heada" at the same time that knob 0rested upon the upper bracket there would be no access to the uppersurface of such head. without first lifting such foot portionsulficiently for a persons foot to enter between such upper surface ofthe foothold and the foot portion 0. Again, it is possible to have thefoot portion some little distance from the foothold without access beinggiven to the upper surface of head (0 The foot portions in Figs. 2 and 4are designated 0 and 0, respectively, the bar and head or foothold ofthe operating means in each case being designated a and a, respectively.

In Fig. 2 the disk 0 or foot portion of the movable bar C is ofconsiderably greater size than the head or hold at" of the operatingmeans, and, as shown, the two are about centrally arranged relatively toeach other. As here shown, the bar 0 is provided with a small collar 0,which rests on the uppersurface of the lower of the two brackets bywhich such bar is mov'ably mounted on the car, and the contact of thiscollar 0 with the upper surface of this lower bracket prevents the footportion 0 from going below the position where seen; but it, with the bar(1 can move upward to make room for the foot of the operator betweenthis foot portion and the foothold a To raise or lift up this footportion 0 and bar C place the toe of the foot, if desired, underneaththe edge of this foot portion which extends beyond the head or footholda and move the foot upward until there is room between the foot portionand foothold to slip the foot into position to push the head andoperating means down to operate the lever a, as before explained.

In Fig. 1 the knob c is the means by which the bar C is operated in onedirection by the hand of the operator to give access to the foothold orhead (6 while in Fig. 2 the foot portion 0 by reason of any convenientportion of the same being beyond the head a, may form correspondingmeans for this same purpose, gravity in each case returning the bar andfoot portion to their normal positions. The foot portion 0 of Fig. 2 isshown in position to cover the foothold or head a" and at the same timeprevent the head being operated if one should unintentionally orotherwise rest his foot upon its upper and projecting surface, as thecollar 0 prevents the downward movement of bar C. In this respect theresult of downward pressure on the upper surface of o is the same as 1ncase of corresponding pressure on 0' of Fig. 1, although in the lattercase the foot would more easily slip off of 0 than it would ofi of 0 butthis is immaterial.

In Fig. 3 the foot portion 0 is made to embrace the side portions ofthis foothold a; but

the only difierence is that such portion and the bar C to which it isattached, have to move a greater distance to make room for the foot ontop of the foothold or head a otherwise the operation is the same as inpreceding figures.

In Fig. 4 the bar 0* and foot portion 0* are somewhat differently formedthan is the case in preceding figures. The foot portion extendsoutwardly from the bar (1*, so that while the foothold a issubstantially covered or protected from the unintentional placing ofones foot thereon the bar (1* may be placed nearer to the end or side ofthe vestibule than would otherwise be the case. This may sometimes be anadvantage where it is desired that the brackets in which the bar or rod0* is movably mounted shall not extend out from the car, as is the casein preceding figures. The operation is the same as in Fig. 1, the footportion being of sufficient dimensions to properly serve its intendedpurpose.

In Fig. 5 a conically-formed portion on the lower end of bar O is shown,which serves the functions of the disk 0 in Fig. 1that is, it is of suchshape that it will not offer a support for the footby which the bar andhead a can be pressed downward and lever a be operated by anyunintentional placing of ones foot upon such conically-formed footportion 0 In this respect the construction of foot portion 0 serves thesame functions in preventing the unintentional actuation of the lever aas is performed by the foot portions in preceding figures,notwithstanding the differences in the shapes of the several footportions. By reason of the conical shape of this foot portion 0 it isdifiicult to place much force in a downward direction upon such portion,and consequently the bar C need not be so rigidly held against downwardmovement when its normal position is reached, as is the case in someother of the constructions seen in preceding figures. Owing to thisfact, this bar (1 can be made, if desired, by unusual effort-that is,more eifort than may be necessary to unintentionally move such bardownward from the position seen in Fig. 5- to move downward from thatposition by overcoming the stress or tension of spring 0' on bar C, andbetween the lower part of knob 0 and the upper surface of the upperbracket, in which such bar is movably mounted. This spring a" is ofsufficient strength to resist any ordinary force that would naturally beplaced on knob 50 and yet be made to yield by any considerable forcegreater than would unintentionally be placed thereon by a passenger orsimilar person in the ordinary use of the platform. This spring c doesnot in any way interfere with the lifting of this bar C away from thehead a to give room for the foot of the operator in ordinary use. Thisspring gives a somewhat yielding abutment for the knob 00 in place of-arigid one, which may under some circumstances be advantageous.

The construction seen in Figs. 6 and 7 differs from the precedingconstructions in that the foot portion 0 is fixed in relation to thefoothold or enlarged head a of the operating means of the door-openingdevice instead of being movable, as shown in preceding figures. Thisfoot portion 0 is in the form of a right-angle projecting plate fixedlysecured to the vestibule or car, as shown, and, if desired. it may beused to rest the foot upon if for any reason this should be desirable.This protecting device 0 is so arranged relatively to the foothold orhead a of the operating means that the toe of the foot of the operatorcan be placed underneath the projecting plate 0 upon the foothold a andactuate the same. This foothold a is preferably made as shown, and whenso made'its shape aids in shoving the toe of the foot between the undersurface of 0 and the upper surface of a, and yet such foothold iscovered over and fully protected from unintentional movement bypassengers and others.

The construction shown in Fig. 8 differs from that of Figs. 6 and 7 inthat it has a supplemental piece or sliding bar 0 having head orfoothold portion 7L arranged as shown, having the shape indicated indotted lines in Fig. 10 or any other shape desired and adapting it toreceive pressure from the foot or otherwise and also having thestationary projecting lip or step 0 arranged relatively to the part It,with a greater space between the two than seen in preceding figures. Thesliding bar U is preferably made as shown-that is, separate from theplunger or sliding bar a and its slightly-enlarged head as0 that therewill not be any tendency for it to cramp in its bearings, which areseparate and distinct from the bearings in which (0 slide or move, whichwould exist if bar a of the door-opening device were mounted in abracket or other supporting and guiding part attached to the car nearthe point where the upper of the two brackets which supportand guide thesliding bar C The length of this bar portion C may-be such as to be inposition to be conveniently reached by the foot of a personstanding onthe floor of the vestibule of the car or other place where the device isto be used. The projecting stationary part 0 may be of such dimensionsas will conveniently cover and protect from unintentional actuation thesliding bar U and consequently the sliding bar a of the door-openingdevice, as is the case in preceding figures. -VVhen the protectingdevice 0 projects sufficiently, the part It may be some little distancebelow the under side of 0 as shown, and the foot IIO hold /L be readilyaccessible for the foot of the operator. These parts will be arrangedrelatively to each other in practice as thought most convenient and yetprotect the part it from unintentional movement by passengers andothers. This device a may be used for a step if made suificiently strongto receive the weight of a person, and the door-opening device andcombined parts may be placed in such relation to the trap-door to beopened and the vestibule of the car as to make the part a convenientlyserve as a step when wishing to reach something near the roof of the caras, for instance, some portion of the signal apparatus for use by theemployees on the car.

The construction shown in Figs. 9 and 10 differs, among other things,from the construction shown in Fig. 8 in that the rightangled plate orfixed part c is hinged to the car, so that it may be turned up and awaymore or less from the head a", as indicated in partial dotted lines, or,as desired, instead of being fixedly attached in position, as shown inFigs. 6 and 8. The head a may be attached directly to the operatingmeans of the door-opening device, as in Figs. 1 and 2, or it may be apart of a supplemental sliding bar, as in Fig. 8, as desired. Thisprotecting device may have the part 0 kept in the position shown in Fig.9 by gravity or otherwise, and whenever it is desired to actuate a thepart c" is lifted by the toe of the foot or otherwise, as desired, andaccess is thus given to head a, as in some of, the precedingconstructions. If desired, the construction of this protecting devicemay be made of sufficient strength to bear the weight of a person, sothat it,'like the construction seen in Figs. 6 and 8, may be used as astep, if desired. The part 0" may be arranged relatively to the head a,as shown, or otherwise, as desired, so long as 0 is so arranged as toprotect head ct" from unintentional actuation, as before explained.

The construction shown in Figs. 11 and 12 differs from that seen inFigs. 9 and 10 in that the head or knob w is substantially like knob inFig. 5 and may, if desired, be pressed down by the hand as well as bythe foot, and the protecting device partially surrounds or incloses theknob (11, as shown. The part o is hinged, as is the part c in Figs. 9and 10, and it is lifted more or less to uncover and give access to heador knob 01, as

vice of Figs. 11 and 12, like those hereinbefore described, is such thatany pressure which would naturally be exerted upon it by a per sonleaning thereon would not break the same, and therefore it protects theknob w and sliding bar C from unintentional actuation, as is the case informer constructions which have been described.

Each form of protecting device herein shown and described has a portionarranged near to but out of the path of movement of the head of theoperating device or means, and means are provided which oppose themovement of such portion into such paththat is, the portion whichsufficiently covers and protects the operating device from beingunintentionally actuated does not when made movable move into the pathof movement of the head of the operating device to obstruct or preventits movement, and thereby prevent the operating device being operated.In each case a portion of the protecting device is arranged so as tonormally cover more or less of the head of the operating device, and themeans provided in connection therewith are adapted to oppose themovement of such portion toward such head from a point where a personwould naturally place his foot or other portion of his body to obtain aresting-place therefor when on the platform near the head of theoperating means.

The operating means of the door-opening device may consist of any kindof a piece or pieces which when moved in one direction partially open adoor or actuate another part or parts and do this work and when moved inthe other direction permit the door to be closed. Such operating meansmay be adapted to receive the foot of the operator to actuate the same,as shown, or they may be adapted to be actuated by the hand also, asshown, as desired, and the portion with which contact is made to actuatesuch means may be of any desired shape and dimensions, and such portionis termed in the claims and many times elsewhere in the specification asthe head, and this term is to be understood as referring to suchportion, whether it is ofany one of the shapes and sizes shown orif itbe of some other shape or size, as such shape, size, or dimensions areno necessary part of my invention.

The terms foot portion ant part have been used in describing thatportion of the protecting device next adjacent to and which covers moreor less of the head of the operating means of the door-opening device,and wherever the term foot portion may occur in the claims it is to beunderstood as referring to this part or portion of the protectingdevice, whether it be called in the descriptive part of thespecification foot portion, part, or otherwise.

The term car-platform is to be understood as referring to any platformwhere similar devices to those here shown would be useful in connectionwith door-opening devices.

I have shown and described different forms and arrangements of parts bywhich the unintentional operating of the door-openingdevice shown may beprevented; but I do not wish to be limited to the forms and arrangementsset forth herein nor to the use of my protecting devices in connectionwith the specific form of door-opening devices here shown and wish toinclude all others that are within the spirit of my invention.

hat I claim as new is 1. In a car-platform the combination,substantially as set forth, of a door-opening device, an operatingdevice provided with a head, and a protecting device having a footportion arranged out of the path of movement of the head of theoperating device.

2. In a car-platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of adoor-opening device, an operating device provided with a head, and aprotecting device having a portion arranged between the head of theoperating device and a point where force would be applied to actuate theoperating device.

3. In a car-platform the combination, substantially as set forth, -of adoor-opening device, an operating device provided with a head, a devicea portion of which is arranged substantially in line with the path ofmovement of the head and adjacent thereto, and means adapted to opposethe movement of such portion toward such head.

4. In a car-platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of adoor-opening device, an operating device provided with a head, and aprotecting device, a portion of which normally covers the head of theoperating device.

5. In a car-platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of adoor-opening device, an operating device provided with a head, and aprotecting device having a portion movable relatively to and arranged tonormally cover the head of the operating device.

6. In a car-platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of adoor-opening de vice, an operating device provided with a head, and aprotecting device, a portion of which and the head is movable, onerelatively to the other, without obstructing the movement of theoperating device.

7. In a car-platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of adoor-opening device, an operating device provided with a head, and amovable protecting device movable in one direction to give access to thehead and movable in another direction to actuate the head upon theapplication of a greater force than would unintentionally be appliedthereto, whereby the head of the operating device is protected fromunintentional movement until the movable protecting device is moved.

8. In a car-platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of adoor-opening device, an operating device provided with a head and amovable protecting device provided with a foot portion, as 0 movable inone direction to give access to the head and movable in the otherdirection to actuate the head upon the application of a greater forcethan would unintentionally be applied thereto, whereby the head of theoperating device is protected from unintentional movement until themovable protecting device is moved.

9. In a car-platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of adoor-opening device, an operating device provided with a head, and amovable protecting device partially inclosing the head of the operatingdevice, whereby the head is protected from unintentional movement untilthe movable protecting device is moved to give access to the head.

. OLIVER M. EDWARDS. Witnesses:

CHARLES M. HANRAHAN, JAMES R. MURPHY.

